The Respiration of Helix Pomatia, A Balance Sheet

Abstract

ABSTRACT The respiratory rates of tissue slices from the various organs of Helix pomatia have been determined. The internal organs such as the brain and liver show a higher QO2 when immersed in Baldwin’s phosphate solution. The external organs such as the mantle and collar show a higher QO2 when immersed in Krebs-Ringer solution. The brain has the highest QO2; it is followed in order by the liver, gut, mantle, kidney, columella muscle, female duct, albuminous gland, body wall, dart sac and foot. The rate of respiration of a series of intact snails has been determined. The organs from each of these snails were removed, dried and weighed. From the respiration rates determined in the early part of the paper, a balance sheet was drawn up for each snail. The summated tissue respiration is compared with the respiration of the intact animal. In three out of the twelve cases cited there was good agreement between the summated tissue respiration and the respiration of the whole animal. In the nine other cases the respiration of the whole animal was 40-70% below the summated tissue respiration. This would indicate the possibility that the snail has some means of controlling the rate at which the tissues respire in the intact animal.